Terms & Conditions

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using the Wildfire platform ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use the Service. We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time, and your continued use constitutes acceptance of any changes.

2. Service Description

Wildfire is a civic engagement and qualitative research platform that enables:

• AI-moderated interviews and focus groups
• Surveys, polls, and ranking activities
• Threaded community discussions
• Journal and diary studies
• Concept testing and feedback collection

The Service uses artificial intelligence to facilitate research activities, analyze responses, and generate insights for civic and community purposes.

3. User Accounts

To access certain features, you may need to create an account or join research activities using a provided code. You agree to:

• Provide accurate and complete information
• Maintain the security of your account credentials
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access
• Be responsible for all activities under your account

4. Research Participation & Consent

By participating in research activities on Wildfire, you acknowledge and consent to:

• Data Collection: Your responses, opinions, and interactions will be collected and stored
• AI Processing: Your contributions may be processed by artificial intelligence for moderation, theme detection, and insight generation
• Aggregation: Your responses may be aggregated with others for research analysis
• Recording: Focus group sessions and interviews may be recorded for quality and analysis purposes

You may withdraw from any research activity at any time by leaving the session or contacting us. Withdrawal will not affect data already collected and aggregated prior to your request.

5. Artificial Intelligence Disclosure

Wildfire employs AI technologies throughout the platform:

• AI Moderators: Automated moderators may facilitate interviews and focus groups, asking follow-up questions based on your responses
• Dynamic Research Objects: AI may suggest or create polls, ranking tasks, and other activities during sessions
• Theme Analysis: AI analyzes conversations to identify patterns, themes, and contradictions
• Engagement Prompts: AI may send messages to re-engage inactive participants

AI-generated content and suggestions are clearly identified where feasible. Final research decisions are made by human researchers, not solely by AI.

6. Acceptable Use

You agree NOT to:

• Provide false, misleading, or fraudulent responses
• Harass, abuse, or threaten other participants
• Share hate speech, discriminatory content, or illegal material
• Impersonate others or misrepresent your identity
• Attempt to access other users' accounts or data
• Use automated systems to access the Service without permission
• Interfere with the proper functioning of the platform
• Share confidential research materials outside the platform

We reserve the right to remove content, suspend accounts, and take legal action for violations.

7. SMS Communications

If you provide your phone number and opt-in to SMS notifications, you consent to receive:

• Session reminders and updates
• Poll and activity notifications
• Re-engagement messages during active research sessions

Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt-out at any time. We limit SMS to a maximum of 1 message per hour per session to respect your attention.

8. Intellectual Property

Our Content: The Wildfire platform, including its design, code, AI systems, and methodologies, are owned by Wildfire and protected by intellectual property laws.

Your Content: You retain ownership of your responses and submissions. By participating, you grant Wildfire a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, analyze, aggregate, and publish your contributions (in de-identified form) for research and civic purposes.

9. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING:

• Accuracy of AI-generated content or insights
• Uninterrupted or error-free operation
• Fitness for a particular purpose
• Outcomes of civic engagement activities

We do not guarantee that participation will result in any specific civic outcome or policy change.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WILDFIRE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO USE THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR $100, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Wildfire and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees) arising from your use of the Service, violation of these Terms, or infringement of any rights of another.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ceases immediately. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, and liability limitations) shall survive.

13. Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any disputes shall be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Cook County, Illinois.

14. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.

15. Contact Us

For questions about these Terms, contact us at: